I just read your article about the cuts to the school district (“Major cuts in store for high schools,” Feb. 14-20) and am furious. So, Superintendent Bill Heidenreich wants to immediately cut transportation for 90 non-public school children, and is callously quoted as saying, “Do we want to have middle school sports or do we want to provide yellow bus transportation to non-public school students? I choose middle school sports.”

As a parent of one of the 90 who would be forced onto the public buses, I am outraged. I imagine that Heidenreich believes that our children’s safety is not as important as the after-school entertainment of middle schoolers.

Those who travel by yellow bus to private school are driven by drivers who have passed screening and safety tests. So Heidenreich’s idea is to give my daughter, as well as the other 89 kids, a MetroCard, a pat on the head and say good luck? Hopefully the bus driver is OK and the folks on the bus treat you decently? How dare he!

How convenient it is also to single out Chaminade High School and Sacred Heart Academy, as well as the Crescent School, which are faith-based schools. Have we as residents not paid our school taxes in full? Do we not deserve the same treatment as the middle school sports teams?

I would also like to add that when a search is done on the MTA website from my address in Valley Stream, there is no bus route that would get my daughter to within one mile of Sacred Heart Academy in the morning. Did no one research this? Mr. Heidenreich, please don’t think that this cut is passing through quietly. I would ask that all other families who would be affected by this cut stand up and fight for our children’s and our rights as taxpayers in this town.

Comments

I couldn't agree more. You can keep the metro card, and just provide seats for my kids in the school distrist.

In addidtion to the sacrifies we make to send our kids to private schools, the district is placing further sacrifices on us. Why are we the first to do so, does anyone acknowledge the sacrifices we are making.